Much like The Set-Up, a movie from 3 years earlier, Don’t Bother to Knock attempts to tell a story in real time or at least near real time. This is a stylistic choice that was rarely made in films of this era, in fact it has rarely been attempted in the entire history of film. A few examples come to mind, such as the television show 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, and the 2003 film Phone Booth as well as 88 minutes with Al Pacino. Rope (1948), which was Directed by Alfred Hitchcock also employed an attempt at this near real time approach.

Much like Rope, Don’t Bother to Knock begins to feel somewhat claustrophobic. The fact that it all takes place in the same location, a hotel in New York, also adds to the claustrophobic feel. These choices serve the story, for Marilyn Monroe’s character is not entirely stable, in fact, she has spent some time in a mental institution. Those three years in the institution supposedly did a lot of good for her, but the one night she spends in this hotel might do just as much bad for her. It is as if her isolation in one location unravels the positive results of her isolation in another location.

Besides the ambitious efforts to tell this story in real time and in one location, the other most impressive aspect of this film has got to be Marilyn Monroe and her performance. Here we see her in the first few years of her film career, with a whole decade of film roles ahead of her, and already we can see that she is more than just a pretty face and a set of seductive curves, but an impressive actor as well. She is an actress who much like other early well known method actors, such as Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger, used method acting to great success. Don’t Bother to Knock is arguably one of her greatest successes as an actress, and ironically came fairly early in her career, much before a lot of criticism arose. After watching a movie like Don’t Bother to Knock, it is ironic that her talents were often questioned by critics of the time and the present. Her performance is clearly the best thing this film has going for it.

The story is about a young woman, who is haunted by a melancholy and apparently sadly repressive past. Part of what is engaging about this film is trying to not only figure out exactly what in her past might have caused her mental and emotional damage, but also whether or not the supposed clues to that past point in the direction one might assume when watching the film. Viewing Don’t Bother to Knock certainly leads one to want to read the source material, a novel by Charlotte Armstrong entitled Mischief. A movie such as Don’t Bother to Knock must have pushed the censorship guidelines of the time for film. Surely, the source material must contain some juicy details that would fill out the story. That, coincidentally, is another connection to the movie Rope, which makes no mention of homosexuality, but is often talked about now as a movie that discusses the subject, which was certainly taboo at the time.

What exactly happened to Marilyn Monroe’s Nell Forbes? What demons are in her past? What exactly is the nature of her relationship with her uncle (played quite well by talented actor Elisha Cook Jr., who interestingly had no children, but did spend some time raising a niece)? What will happen next to Nell? These questions are basically unanswered, leaving much to the imagination of the viewer, serving as sort of a psychological analysis of the viewer, and an exercise in dissecting dialogue and hunting for subtext.

Despite all the unanswered questions, one thing is clear however, Marilyn Monroe could definitely act.

Marilyn Monroe is easily one of the most famous movie stars of all time. I don’t think you’ll find anyone who doesn’t know who she is. Sadly, most people don’t realize what an incredible actress she was. In addition to a stunning screen presence, she had an amazing comedic and dramatic talent. In the early 1950s, when she was still in mostly supporting roles, she was quite a scene stealer. When she started getting lead roles, she just sparkled in film after film after film. It’s tragic that she died so young. Who knows where her career would have gone.

Monroe made many, many films that are so incredible well known. Some Like It Hot was named the greatest comedy of all time by the American Film Institute. The Seven Year Itch, The Misfits, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and How to Marry a Millionaire, among others, are considered to be classics. But she also made a lot of really good films that aren’t particularly well known today.

Don’t Bother to Knock (Roy Ward Baker, 1952)In this unsettling sort-of-noir, Monroe gives an excellent performance as a mentally disturbed woman opposite Richard Widmark. It’s really a pretty disturbing film for Hollywood in the 1950s. Monroe’s character is babysitting a couple’s kid in a hotel, but thanks to the fact that she’s kind of crazy, she does a really bad job of it. Like, tying the kid up kind of bad job. This is one of Monroe’s best performances. It’s really very subtle and natural, and while you’re appalled by how poorly she’s doing her job, your heart really breaks for her when you see just how sad her instability is. Widmark also gives a very good performance, and his chemistry with Monroe is interesting and unique.

Home Town Story (Arthur Pierson, 1951)
This isn’t a great movie at all, but it’s a decent little newspaper drama with a really charming performance from Monroe. It is blatantly patriotic, but it’s hardly the only film from the era of McCarthyism to carry the “America is Awesome” message. In addition to Monroe, the cast is interesting enough to make this movie worth watching.

Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956)
Monroe got the chance to really put her acting talents on display in Bus Stop, showing off in this drama-comedy. You know, a dramady, if you will. The wide range of emotions she shows in this movie is really incredible, proof that she was a truly gifted actress. Before this she had played mostly breathless blonds, but she left that persona behind to play a hardened, disappointed woman looking for love.

One of Hollywood’s true maverick filmmakers was Sam Fuller, writer/director of some of the most primitive, gritty low budgets films to come out of the studio system. His best known film, and also one of his best, is Pickup on South Street, a political thriller about a pickpocket who inadvertently becomes involved with communist agents. Amazingly the film was attacked by both the FBI and the Communist Party as propaganda for the other side. The film gave Richard Widmark one of his best roles. The year before Pickup, Fuller made a film called Park Row, his personal favorite. Park Row was made on an extremely low budget, originally for 20th Century Fox, until Darryl F. Zanuck wanted to turn the film into a musical. Fuller, using his own money bought the film and made it under his own production company. Unfortunately, the film died at the box office and Fuller lost all of his investment.

Park Row is a history of the newspaper business in New York when newspapers ruled the news media. This was in the 1880’s, a long time before Radio, TV and The Web. Fuller started out as a copyboy for a newspaper in Massachusetts and eventually became a crime reporter for the New York Graphic at the age of 17. Park Row was his love story to the newspaper life he loved.

Phineas Mitchell (Gene Evans) starts a newspaper called The Globe, dedicated to telling nothing but the truth and takes on the more powerful papers on New York’s famed Park Row, including The Star, run by Charity Hackett (Mary Welch). Of course, Charity is beautiful and there is a romantic angle that develops but the center of the story is the newspaper business: the battle of the independent Globe vs. the more established callous papers on the street. Fuller films are blunt, some say melodramatic, and here among other things he tackles corporate corruption, biased journalism and censorship. Mitchell and his paper represent integrity, ethics and the honesty of the real newspaperman and not the yellow journalism of his more powerful competition.

Fuller manages to get a lot of mileage within the confines of a small set, and a limited budget, due to some incredible camera movements that make the set look a lot larger than it actually was. Also, pay attention and you will hear some dialogue about the Dead Rabbits, and the Plug Uglies and other Gangs that became better known in Scorsese’s The Gangs of New York. This is no coincidence. Back in 1938 Fuller wrote a screenplay based on the same Herbert Asbury book. The screenplay was made into a film with the same name, and was directed by James Cruze starring Charles Bickford and Ann Dorvak.

Park Row was cigar chewing Gene Evans second film with Sam Fuller. In 1951 he made The Steel Helmet, in which he played cigar chewing Sgt Zack (hopefully the budgets allowed for Evans to have a different cigar for each film). Evans also was in Fullers’ 1953 World War Two film Fixed Bayonets.

Park Row is Fuller’s 83 minute valentine to the newspaper business he loved done in the pulp style he was most noted for.